A (psychology) love letter to… Pixar Animation Studios

Dear Pixar, You and I both came of age around the same time; all the way back in 1991. After making some decent commercials and short animations, you decided to team up with Disney and give computer-generated animated movies a whirl. 

That same year, after working on a pork pie production line (yes, someone does inject jelly in them and that someone was me), I decided to give university a whirl. 

I'm glad we both made that leap. For over 30 years, you've not only entertained the masses, regardless of age, but enabled me to consider so many deep-reaching, psychological themes. By putting psychologists on your payroll, you've nailed what it's like to be human; to resist change, to grieve, to tolerate and sit with difficult emotions, feel love and risk being vulnerable. Like all of us, I'm sure there'll be work you're super proud of, and other jobs that haven't landed so well (The Good Dinosaur anyone? Yep, thought not).

But let's look at the masterpieces; Toy Story, Monsters Inc, Finding Nemo, Up and both Inside Outs. Somehow, the psychological themes you explored in these movies coincided with what I needed to think about in my own life. And a cinema ticket is cheaper than a therapist (plus you get to eat popcorn…).

"Reach for the sky" - Woody in Toy Story 1

In 1995, you released the world's first computer-animated feature film, Toy Story, which went on to become the highest-grossing film of the year. That same year, I moved from Leeds to London to start my dream job on Top of The Pops Magazine. Like Woody, the cowboy protagonist in Toy Story, who partied with familiar faces such as Mr Potato Head and Etch A Sketch, I partied with familiar faces from the '90s pop scene; (I was even responsible for giving the Leeds Spice, Mel B, her nickname; she could actually be quite Scary). But, just like Woody, I was wracked with a nagging anxiety. 

Woody worries constantly about one of the toys being lost in an impending house move. He also fears that his six-year-old owner, Andy, will replace him with a newer, better toy. Worries were a daily occurrence for me too. I was doing my dream job; what if someone replaced me? Did my editor even like me? Was that photoshoot with Steps/The Backstreet Boys/Pulp good enough? As psychologists know, anxiety is there to do a job. It helps us to stay safe and assess risks but sometimes, it tries to run the show, and we forget to enjoy the here and now. 

Sure enough, Woody's fears do come true. He is replaced by new kid on the block, Buzz Lightyear, and, while he's trying to come to terms with this news, evil Sid from next door (who dissects his toys for fun), takes Buzz and Woody hostage. However, they dig deep, work as a team and Woody realises that even though he can't stop scary things happening, he's way more resilient than he thought. His energies had previously been focusing on a perceived threat but, when push came to shove, he coped. 

Meanwhile, all my worrying about being replaced at work came true too; two months into my dream job, I was diagnosed with cancer and had to take six months off. Just like Woody's pals, mine rallied round me. I recovered and learnt that we are so much stronger than we give ourselves credit for.

"You and I are a team. Nothing is more important than our friendship." - Mike in Monsters Inc

Your psychological teachings came thick and fast after that. Monsters Inc followed, with monster pals and co-workers, Mike and Sully, hammering home the importance of friendship. We learn that just like humans, monsters are relational beings and how, when those connections hit rocky patches, it can take effort to fix them. You showed us the rehabilitative power of laughter and how it has more strength than fear. At Monsters Inc, they move on from collecting screams to generate their city's power to harvesting laughter, which is ten times stronger.

As I bumbled through my twenties, I, like many of us, experienced loss, tricky relationships and uncertainty, but just like Mike and Sully, it was those rock-solid friendships that kept my head above water. 

"Just keep swimming" - Dory in Finding Nemo

And your deep-water sob-fest, Finding Nemo, really got me in 2003. Themes of family, fear and loss are told through the story of an overprotective clownfish, Marlin, searching for his son, Nemo. I was a brand new parent, and you knew just which buttons to press! Clearly suffering from PTSD after the loss of his wife and millions of other potential hatchlings during a shark attack, Marlin is understandably very overprotective of his only surviving child. 

I was a Marlin in the making at this stage, having never believed I'd be able to have a baby. I wanted to protect him from pain at all costs, but again, through your storytelling prowess, you explained that by wrapping our kids up in cotton wool we were trying to control the uncontrollable. Bad things sometimes happen, and we are inadvertently preventing growth and nurturing fear in our children if we try to stop them from taking risks. During Marlin's search for Nemo, he encounters various obstacles that represent his psychological metamorphosis; he overcomes adversity, confronts his fear and experiences growth.

"But what happens when the kids grow up?" Jessie in Toy Story 3

You continued to pull on the parental heartstrings with the release of Toy Story 3 in 2010. Andy, the little boy from TS1 is now 17 and heading off to college. His old toys packed in a charity bag destined for a pre-school. By now I'm sitting in the cinema with my two young children. They, like all the other kids in the cinema, are absorbed wondering how on earth Woody and Buzz would escape the evil teddy bear bully, Lotso. But you knew who you were really making this movie for didn't you, Pixar? Us parents would be the abandoned toys one day. My parenting would be surplus to requirements. Did the pre-school actually represent an old folk's home that we'd be packed off to when our kids were all grown-up? 

As tears dripped into my cinema-size bag of Revels, I imagined a not so useful future… I'm not sure you did me any psychological favours with this one.

"So long, boys! I'll send you a postcard from Paradise Falls" - Carl Fredricksen in Up

But right on cue, during my 'what's life all about' phase, you released the masterpiece that is Up. I'd have loved to have been a fly on the wall when this one was pitched to your creatives; "So, there's this old guy, let's call him Carl, who ties his house to a load of balloons and drifts away to explore South America, meet some talking dogs and all the while, a boy scout is hitching a ride on his porch…"  but, of course, you knew what you were doing. Up explores the existential themes of getting old, regret, and realising that life is messy and out of our control. But at the same time, it reminds us, that just like Carl, we're never too old for a new adventure.

And I was on a new adventure. While working as a journalist, I'd also had a side-gig, training to be a psychotherapist. In 2015, I was 45, my kids were older, I'd survived some rocky times myself and some counselling I received really helped me. And so, that year, when I started to see clients, you released Inside Out; a movie about what goes on in our heads. Your timing was spot on.

"OK, we've got a group of cool girls at two o'clock" – Disgust, Inside Out

It was such a bonkers but brilliant idea to personify the five primary emotions of an 11-year-old girl. We meet Joy, Anger, Fear, Disgust and Sadness who all live in Riley's brain and wrestle each other to take charge of her actions as she navigates a move to a new city, house and school.  And, to get it right, you brought in the professionals; psychologists and neuroscientists, Paul Ekman, Lisa Damour and Dacher Keltner. They helped you to show us that all emotions are valid and serve a purpose. In the film, Joy spends a lot of her energies, trying to muffle the others' emotions that aren't, well, joyful. As we know, that's not realistic. What an entertaining way to hammer the message home to kids (and adults) that it's ok not to be ok.

As an integrative therapist, I cherry-pick from different types of therapy; many can be helpful, but the compassion-focused Internal Family Systems model developed by Dr Richard Schwartz, has the most impact for my clients. It holds the view that the mind is made up of subpersonalities, each with its own unique viewpoint and qualities. We describe them as a family of parts each trying to do their best to keep us ok. When I initially explain this, I often refer to the Inside Out movies.

At the end of the first Inside Out, there's a great gag. Just as Riley's world feels a little less bumpy and the credits are about to roll, Disgust notices a large red button labelled 'Puberty' and questions what it does. Joy dismisses it as 'not important'. 'After all', she says, 'Riley's 12 now, what could possibly happen?' Cue parents in the cinema chuckling to themselves nervously.

"We keep the best, and toss the rest" – Joy, Inside Out 2

In 2024, (because time don't work the same in your world, Pixar) Inside Out 2 starts with Joy, happily storing away good memories, and tossing away any bad ones, explaining to Sadness "we keep the best and toss the rest." Joy wants the good memories to help form Riley's core beliefs such as 'I'm a good friend' and 'I'm a hard worker'. But, when 13-year-old Riley wakes up with a zit and some serious attitude, four new emotions arrive in her brain. There's Embarrassment, Envy, Ennui (who drawls in a French accent, 'It's what you would call the boredom'). But it's Anxiety who takes charge. Her job is to plan for the future, just like Woody in Toy Story all those years back. When we hear her say 'OK Riley, let's change everything about you,' the results are harrowing to watch. Anxiety tries to protect Riley by desperately trying to get life right and be good enough. This culminates in a terrifying panic attack. The panic is only resolved when Joy and Anxiety let a new sense of self grow, one that encompasses positive and negative emotions. 

Your consultant psychologist, Damour, calls Inside Out 2 a 'gift' to parents of teens, but I would go further – it's a gift for us all. We all need to remember that difficult emotions are allowed to have some airtime. And after 30-years of hammering that message home, Pixar, it may just be sinking in for me.